Beauty and the Dream
by norearviewmirrors
Summary: 3x05 Stefan visits Elena in the Hospital before Damon gets there "it will always be you Stefan, remember that, no matter where we end up after tonight, i promise that won't change.


Klaus was back, and he was in the school gym, the same gym she had watched Caroline play in the volleyball championships, the gym she had watched Tyler and Matt run laps in when it was too cold to have football practice outside. She was terrified, shaking head to toe, because although she was scared of Klaus, she was terrified of Stefan, of the person he'd become, the man who broke his own heart, and hers- in Chicago because he was trying to keep her safe. The man she loved, Stefan. And here they both stood, infront of her, Stefan feeding on 2 freshman, and Klaus whispering in her ear how good it was to see such a talent.

Elena awoke in the hospital, to a nurse assuring her to leave in the needles that funneled her blood into a bag for Klaus, and she was too weak to take them out herself. She tried to remember the night, remembering Rebecca biting her, Stefan telling her he loved her, and then begging her to run from the monster he had become. She remembered Klaus compelling Stefan to turn off his humanity, and Stefan roughly feeding on her for what felt like forever.

And then suddenly in a haze of remembering, Elena fell asleep, figuring she was getting weak. As she fell asleep, Stefan silently and smoothly slipped into her hospital room through the window, and took the needles out of Elena's arms gently without waking her. Then, he slipped into her dreams….

ELENAS DREAM-

Elena was in Matt Donovans room, sitting on his bed with a picture frame on her lap, staring intensely at the picture it held. She didn't lift her head as Stefan walked up to the door of the room, but she still spoke, "do you remember when we took this?" she muttered, flipping over the picture, so Stefan could clearly see it.

It was a picture of everyone- Tyler, Caroline, Matt, Jeremy, Bonnie, Elena, Stefan, Damon, Alaric and Jenna. All together smiling and holding eachother feeling as though nothing could ruin that moment.

"Yeah, the night we went over to Tyler's for his birthday, couple weeks after I came to town" Stefan recalled, almost reliving the memory  
"yeah. That was a great night. When did everything get so messed up?" Elena wondered mostly to herself.

Stefan then walked over to the bed and sat beside the girl he loved, pain radiating from his heart. "When I left" he whispered, looking directly at the ground, ashamed and embarrassed, knowing he'd let her down.

Elena couldn't believe her ears. "Listen to me Stefan" she started, taking Stefan's face in her hands, and forgiving him to look her in the eyes. "This is not your fault, this is mine, I am the doppelganger, I could have given into him a long time ago, but I decided to fight, so this, this is all me" tears now fell from her beautiful face and she allowed herself to plant a small but important kiss on Stefan's lips, hoping he would understand how much she needed him. "I love you" she whispered once she pulled away, sad. "I love you too" he promised, and he took her hand into his, trying to comfort her.

"Now Stefan I know that this is a dream, and when I wake up, you won't be there with me. I also know that because of Klaus, you're going to have to keep your emotions turned off, and that you can only change that, and be _my _Stefan when you come into my dreams." She continued, trying to remember everything she had been told about humanity from Damon. "But you have to make me forget this dream, because if I know that you are still _you, _that you're who I still remember, then I don't think I'll be strong enough to deal with it, with you acting one way, and me truly believing you're different. I'll still love you, but I have to forget this. How you treated me in Chicago, and how you are now is too different, I can't be this confused." Elena realized that they were both crying fiercely, Stefan squeezing her hands in his, and looking at the floor in pure agony.

"You're right, I'm sorry that I have been so apathetic about your emotions, I just, I needed to see you, to hold you, and tell you how much I love you." Stefan whispered to her. They were both lost in tears, scared and alone yet falling together.

The hurt was settling, and Stefan knew it was time to go, so he took Elena's face into his hands, and kissed her with all the passion he had left, and the compelled her to forget he was with her, disappearing before she had a chance to realize anything other than where she was.

Stefan then pulled out of the dream, and assessed the hospital room, and heard footsteps coming their way. Thinking it was Klaus; Stefan carefully stuck the needles back into Elena's arm, trying not to spill any blood, afraid of himself.

Before the footsteps reached the door, Stefan had tucked Elena in, put a kiss on her forehead, whispered an "I love you" in her ear, and slipped back out the window, sitting on a little roof outside of the window, peaking in the room.

It wasn't Klaus, it was Damon, Stefan realized. His heart tore apart in watching his brother trying to clean up after him, taking care of his little brothers girlfriend, carrying her out of the room. He was scared that she would forget him, but hoped that if she did, she would go for Damon, who could protect her as well, if not better than he could.

Stefan sat on that roof all night, remembering Elena, and trying to memorize her every feature as if there would be an intense exam tomorrow. He wanted to remember her perfectly, he memorized the woman he could have loved forever, the woman who was everything he needed, his warrior princess, his love.


End file.
